Stress hurts the skin, the look, the spirit. Sometimes we see it with our own eyes, in the mirror, this effect. Even science confirms it, in addition to feelings.
According to research conducted on 2300 people at VU University Medical Center Amsterdam and published in the British Journal of Psychiatry, it seems that prolonged states of anxiety and agitation would erode telometers, sequences of DNA placed at the end of chromosomes that preserve genetic information and which represent an excellent indicator of the aging process (in short, they get shorter with age).
Anxiety that shortens telomeres and accelerates aging
Already other Dutch studies had highlighted the link between prolonged states of depression and telomere shortening. Other academic analyzes are now focusing on anxiety, particularly disorders such as generalized anxieties, social phobias, agoraphobias and panic disorders with or without agoraphobia.
A sample of 1, 283 adults with current anxiety disorder, 459 with an anxiety disorder in remission, and 582 control subjects without a psychiatric disorder were sampled. The average age of the whole involved was 41.7 years, and 66% were women.
The telomere length of leukocytes - which is indicated by the abbreviation LTL - was evaluated using the quantitative polymerase chain reaction and transformed into base pairs (bp). The LTL showed a significant negative correlation with the age corresponding to an average shortening rate of 14 bp / year. Women had an LTL more than men.
The analysis contemplated age, sex and lifestyle factors, including weight (LTL is shorter in underweight, overweight or obese subjects), smoking and alcoholism (former and current smokers and heavy drinkers have a shorter LTL), and the number of somatic illnesses (shorter LTL was found in those with the most diseases).
In the integrally corrected model, LTL was shorter, on average, 75 bp in patients with recurrent anxiety disorder than in control patients and 68 bp shorter, compared to the remission group. The various states of anxiety were analyzed separately about the "shortening" that would cause: 3.5-5 years (social phobia), from 4 to 6 years (panic disorder with agoraphobia), and 5.5-8 years (generalized anxiety disorder) of accelerated aging compared to group psychiatric control.
LTL could be a consequence of disturbances in body stress systems, given that in people with anxiety disorders the increase in cortisol, oxidative stress and proinflammatory cytokines associated with telomere shortening is more pronounced.
From the analysis of the results, the researchers have noticed that those who presented previous or current psychological disorders showed a clear reduction in telomere length, indicative of an aging of about 3-5 years greater than the chronological age.
Josine Verhoeven is the name of the author of the study, who explained on La Stampa the relationship between stress hormones and aging : " the process could be traced back to the action of stress hormones, whose levels are altered in subjects suffering from psychological problems ".
Useful tips to manage anxiety
Anna Magnani often told the make-up artists: " Nun me removes the wrinkles that I've put 'na vita a fammele ". It is one thing to love each other and to love one's own readable experience on the skin, another is to let emotional states affect the appearance and the whole organism ahead of time.
There are targeted therapies to learn how to better manage stress and recognize emotional states; in this sense, that you seek relief from the East or the West, both yoga and tai chi chuan as well as bioenergetics are effective.
In fact, a healthy walk can work wonders. It should not be thought that living a sedentary life is not stressful for the body, it certainly is. Sitting is challenging in the sense that some muscles are held in the same position for too long. Yes therefore to physical exercise .
Sleep quality greatly affects the general state of the body, so it is best to avoid contact with electronic devices before going to bed.
Yes to self-massage, at least 3 or 5 minutes, to the face, but in generlae in the parts you hear recall your hands. Another great piece of advice to live at your own pace and learn not to reduce the vital energy : to return to long breaths , after observing what are the situations in which they undergo a shortening. Seeing is believing.
